Buying process at a turning point – do you lead your customers through the buyer's journey?

23.05.20160

In March, we shed some light on the subject of omnichannel marketing in our blog. Mapping out the customer's digital journey and defining the roles of different marketing channels are some of the most important elements of omnichannel marketing.

This month we'll take a look at the digital buying process. The buyer's journey is a series of contact points that a company has decided to utilize in their communications. A great number of different paths can be taken through these points, which ultimately leads the customer to a purchase decision.

The buyer's journey has been depicted with the AIDA funnel (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) for decades. However, the customer's buying process hasn't been a funnel in a very long time, but more like a network where the movement happens fluently back and forth and which can be jumped into at every point.

The basic stages of buying have stayed the same, though: attention still first leads to evaluation and then a purchase decision, possibly turning into a loyal customership or recommendations of the products or services of the company.

There is no single right answer to the number of paths. New paths are created in unexpected places which makes monitoring them even more important. It is essential to understand how to offer your target groups options on how to proceed in the different stages of the buying process. It pays off to put effort into the analytics of the path so you'll be able to minimize the bottlenecks and breaking points in the buyer's journey.

Image: In social media advertising it pays off to use content that produces additional value to the target group.

Remember that every touchpoint of the company has to act as a navigator to the customers that want to move to the next stage of the buying process.

Different channels can also have different roles on the path. Newsletters can boost the popularity of a product or a company but at the same time inform existing customers about new products or changes in services. In addition, social media channels can simultaneously work for advertising, as well as customer service purposes.

Image: Liana Technologies' tools on the customer journey. See the interactive version here.

The buyer's journey is nowadays a jungle of technology. Companies can't dictate the channels they're present in anymore, the power has shifted to the customer. Liana Technologies' mission is to provide a product family for marketing professionals that helps serve the customer at every stage of the buyer's journey.

Samuli TursasCEO, Liana Technologies

Stage 1: Awareness

When a company is being made known in the digital environment, it is essential to offer content to the target group in a natural channel and in the most suitable way for the channel. For example, on social media the content is concise and easy to digest, when in blogs and newsletters the thoughts sparked up on social media are elaborated on.

Search engine visibility is crucial to a company despite of the industry. Putting it harshly your company doesn't exist if it doesn't appear on the first page of Google's search results. You should also make a note of the fact that searches are made with different devices so your content should also be optimized for mobile devices.

The most important goals of the awareness stage are that a) the customer knows that the company exists and offers certain things and b) remembers it in the future as well.

Take care of your existing customers – you shouldn't underestimate the power of the grapevine as a booster of your popularity

Stage 2: Evaluation

Every industry and product has their own buying process that varies from impulse purchases to months of consideration. Especially in bigger purchases the decision cannot be made immediately and the marketing contents of a company should always be directed to several branching paths. The invitation to start the buying process immediately has to be in all content but the customer also needs to have time to consider. It's a good idea to offer alternative contents that aim to lead the customer towards the purchase decision.

If you only offer the possibility to buy or not to buy, you often force the customer to make the final decision too soon and a valuable contact is lost when other possibilities besides buying are not offered. The evaluation period is a good moment for your company to shine with your know-how in the shape of high-quality content marketing and convince the customer that you are a professional and reliable partner.

If the customer, for one reason or another, doesn't complete any of the suggested actions and the path is cut short for them, marketing automation helps to identify some of these lost customers and relevant messages can be targeted at them. This way they can be redirected to the path to customership.

The most important goals for your company during the evaluation period are a) convincing the customer that you are the best in your field and b) reinforcing the feeling that the customer needs the product you're offering.

If the customer has expressed interest but the process has been cut short, you can take advantage of different kinds of automated messages like Drip campaigns or webstore marketing automation. The main thing is not to forget the contact.

Stage 3: Purchase decision

During the evaluation period the customer makes analytical comparisons and considers their own needs. The next step towards a purchase is being made. However, the purchase decision can still be backed away from if you don't make the next step easy enough. The buyer's mood might shift if processing the payment is too difficult, there is ambiguity in prices or if the company doesn't react fast enough to the issues that are holding the customer back.

If you hide the actual buying behind too many steps, the buyer might become frustrated and back out of the purchase decision. Therefore, offer a clear buying CTA in all of your content.

The most important goal in refining the buying process is to make your customer journey seem effortless.

The most important technologies for a purchase decision:

A publishing system that enables you to create a high-quality outlook and guaranteed functionality

Stage 4: Loyal customers and recommendations

Your company has in one way or another reached its goal and the customer has made a positive purchase decision. However, the path doesn't end here. High-quality customer service and communication are crucial when it is desired that the customer stays a loyal customer and makes more purchases. The additional value that excellent content marketing brings to existing customers shouldn't be underrated.

The most important goals of the customership stage are creating a) loyal customers that stay with you and continue to make purchases from you andb) people who recommend you and spread the word about your company, creating new paths for new buyers.

Image: Feedback surveys are an important part of customer service development.

Are you familiar with the buyer's journey that the customers of your own company take? Liana Technologies offers help to everyday challenges with software solutions that cover every step of the buyer's journey. With LianaMailer newsletter tool you can handle your email marketing from event invitations to feedback surveys. With LianaCMSpublishing system you publish your content with modern responsive technology that is designed for mobile platforms as well and LianaCommerce is a platform for your webstore. LianaPresspress release distribution system brings a vast media database within your reach and with LianaMonitor you are able to monitor your visibility on social and other media, and in web content overall. With LianaCEMautomation platform you can gather data from all your marketing channels and develop your communications to be more and more targeted.

Contact us if you need development advice in terms of digital communication!